Friday, 19 October 2012

Foundation Hand For Beginners

Simple Foundation Hand Style

Foundation Hand is sometimes known as
Book Hand Calligraphy. If you are a
beginner to the world of calligraphy, foundation hand is a great calligraphy
style to start you off. The style is a little bit like learning how to write
very neatly and slowly when you first start to write at school. When you get
into the habit of writing very neatly, you will find that writing foundation
hand style will come naturally.

The Foundation Hand style came from the
Carolingian scripts and is characterised by very rounded letters and neat,
straight lines.

Pen Nibs

To get you started, use a medium to fine
width calligraphy pen and black ink.
Copy the letterforms slowly and carefully. Study the letter’s appearance and try to copy them.

Lined paper

Using
lined or graph paper as guidelines is a good idea to ensure even and neat
letterforms. Practice with the graph or
lined paper until you are confident enough to write without the guidelines at
all. You could even use tracing paper or good quality lined paper to practice on.

2 Pencil Technique

Proportions of
Foundation Hand

As a rule of thumb, the capital letter
heights should be about 6 or 7 nib widths high, the x height (small letters
without the ascending and descending strokes), should be about 4 or 5 nib
widths high. The pen nib should be held
at about an angle of 30 degrees from the writing guidelines.

Projects and Ideas

Foundation Hand style can be used in many
ways and it is relatively easy to learn and it looks quite impressive and
neat. Foundation Hand can be used for
wedding invitations, place names, writing poems, or writing names on
certificates and envelopes.

The calligraphy 2-pencil technique is a
very simple but effective way to write Foundation Hand. You simply tie two pencils together firmly
with a rubber band and hold the pencils as if you are holding a calligraphy
pen, ensuring the pencils are held so the pencil nibs are at a 30 degree
angle. Write some letters steadily, and
keeping the 30-degree angle consistent.
Once you write the outlines, you can color them in any way or style you
like. You can use gouache, pastel,
watercolor or oil paint. Experiment
with mediums and paper for different effects.

If you are left handed, foundation hand
can be a great way to get you started writing in calligraphy styles. Make sure that you buy calligraphy pens
specifically for left handed people. You can buy special calligraphy pens for
left handed people from any good art and craft store. Left-handed nibs are shaped differently from the regular
nibs. They are designed to glide
smoothly across paper.